🇺🇸 Chicago's New CEO

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Good morning, and happy Friday! An American flag, first flown by the US military in combat, began its more than 14,000 mile "Rolling Remembrance" relay via air and road to help raise awareness of, and funds for, Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, an organization that provides college scholarships and educational counseling to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.

Plus, how did this poisonous plant become one of the American South’s most long-standing staples?

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FLAG POLLS

📉 Thursday, April 6, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 45, Disapprove 53 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Wednesday, April 5, General Election: Trump vs. Biden: Trump 47, Biden 40 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Wednesday, April 5, General Election: DeSantis vs. Biden: DeSantis 46, Biden 38 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Wednesday, April 5, General Election: Trump vs. Biden: Trump 44, Biden 42 (Economist/YouGov)

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Left: The Tennessee GOP’s chilling effort to expel Democrats over a gun control protest, explained Li Zhou, Vox

Right: We're in Middle of a Revolution We Don't Even Notice Victor Davis Hanson, Fox News

Right: CNN Moves To Axe Don Lemon With Planted Hit Piece John Nolte, Breitbart

Right: How Climate Alarmism Killed Real Environmentalism Edward Ring, American Greatness

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QUICK CLICKS

Kicked Out of the Statehouse, Accelerate the Audits, Chipotle Controversy

US: Tennessee statehouse expels Democrats for gun control protest (BBC)

US: Biden admin releases new Title IX regulations on transgender issues in schools (Fox News)

US: Justice Clarence Thomas accepted several luxury trips paid for by GOP megadonor, ProPublica report finds (CNN)

US: IRS to spend $80B to hire 30,000 new employees, boost audits on wealthy (NY Post)

Weather: Two dead, over a million without power after ice storm hits Canada (Reuters)

US: Jackson, Mississippi, reels from sudden end to trash collection (NBC News)

Business: Sweetgreen renames menu item after Chipotle sues for trademark infringement (CNBC)

Hollywood: The Super Mario Bros. Movie Box Office Expected to Rake in $141 Million in Opening Weekend (IGN)

CRIME

Chicago's New CEO

Earlier this week, Chicago elected Democrat Brandon Johnson as the city’s next mayor, winning a runoff with former CEO of Chicago Schools Paul Vallas. Johnson is set to be inaugurated as Chicago’s 57th mayor on May 15, replacing outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Reporting from the Left: Progressive candidate Brandon Johnson elected Chicago’s new mayor (The Guardian)

Reporting from the Right: Brandon Johnson wins Chicago mayoral contest, replacing former Mayor Lori Lightfoot (Fox News)

From the Flag: Lightfoot’s defeat marked the first time in 40 years that Chicago’s incumbent mayor failed to win reelection. Many saw her loss as a rebuke of more left-leaning policies and the inability to get the city’s crime problems under control, but Johnson is considered to be a well left-of-center progressive. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Familiar Winds Blowing in Chicago: Voters Blew a Chance at Improvement

• Chicagoans had a chance to help the city move in a different direction but doubled down on progressive policies instead.

• Chicago’s top cop has predicted Johnson’s victory could inspire up to 1,000 city cops to leave for other jobs.

• Despite Chicago’s increase in crime under Mayor Lori Lightfoot, voters have chosen a candidate in Johnson who wants to remove law enforcement from society.

“What Has Chicago Done?” Dabrowski & Klingner, Wirepoints: “Chicagoans cheered Mayor Lightfoot’s exit. … From the beginning, she was more interested in imposing a progressive vision and an ‘equity’ agenda on Chicago than enacting the many reforms the city needed. … But what Chicagoans voted for on April 4 was someone more extreme and exactly opposite of what the city needed. To reduce Chicago’s nation-high homicide rate, Chicago needed a new mayor willing to take on Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s unwillingness to prosecute dangerous criminals. A mayor willing to challenge Judge Tim Evans’ decarcerationist agenda. A mayor willing to jam shut the system’s revolving door for criminals. Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson won’t do any of that. … he’s for defunding the police and defends looting as ‘an outbreak of incredible frustration and anguish’ tied to ‘a failed racist system.’ Watch for police morale to fall further, for criminals to be emboldened and for crime to continue to spike in Chicago.”

“Chicagoans still lack the will to fix their city” Editorial Board, Washington Examiner: “Alas, we were too optimistic about Chicago. When Chicagoans ousted Mayor Lori Lightfoot, giving her only 17% of their votes in the first round of this year's mayoral election, it seemed that the city might be about to turn a corner. Voters seemed to be rejecting the grievance-mongering and anti-police ideology that have made life in the Windy City so much more dangerous and less tolerable than it was even 10 years ago. … Unfortunately, after wisely throwing Lightfoot out, Chicagoans have elected an even more radical police defunder. Brandon Johnson, a former teachers union organizer who supported defunding the police right up until he started running for mayor, is the wrong answer to Chicago's violent crime wave and its worsening population loss. Police union President John Catanzara made the grim prediction to the New York Times that another 1,000 police officers may soon quit because of Johnson's win. This would cut the force to two-thirds of its 2018 levels.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Johnson calls for removing law enforcement from society Andy Ngô, Twitter

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Many Expected Vallas, but Chicago Voters Want True Police Reform

• This is a victory for police reform advocates in Chicago, as Vallas’ more hard-line message on crime failed to gain traction.

• Johnson painted Vallas as a secret Republican who sympathized with former President Trump – and Chicago voters opted for the choice they saw as a more solid Democrat.

• It’s true that Chicago voters are concerned about crime, but they opted for Johnson’s progressive approach: investing in schools, housing, jobs, and mental healthcare.

“How Brandon Johnson Won the Chicago Mayor's Race” Christian Paz, Vox: “In a surprise victory for progressive organizing and the future of police reform efforts, Chicago voters elected underdog former education organizer Brandon Johnson as mayor, beating back moderate Democrat Paul Vallas… The progressive victory happened a bit over a month since voters soundly rejected their incumbent mayor, Lori Lightfoot… largely over dissatisfaction with her promises for reform of schools and city policing. With Johnson’s victory, the third-largest city in the country has made an ideological pronouncement about a core tension within the Democratic Party nationally about how to respond to concerns about crime. … Chicago seems to have defied a recent trend in Democratic big-city politics in which tough-on-crime rhetoric, particularly when pitched toward moderate and conservative voters of color, could tip elections. … Vallas’s more hardline message on crime seemed to resonate with white voters and could have peeled away support from Johnson among Black and Latino voters. … Tuesday’s results have likely confirmed that, despite inroads, (his) crime-focused message did not work to persuade enough of those voters.”

“In Chicago and Wisconsin, voters rebuke Trump's GOP” E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post Opinion: “Brandon Johnson, a little-known county commissioner six months ago, edged out former schools executive Paul Vallas, who expected to ride deep anxieties about crime into City Hall. Both are Democrats, but Johnson painted Vallas as a closet Republican who had once said he would convert to the GOP and had been heard calling the impeachment effort against Donald Trump ‘a witch hunt.’ Vallas vigorously denied any sympathy for Trump or any desire to change his party. But he had made other comments on right-wing radio that proved offensive to Democrats, and he had received campaign contributions from prominent conservatives who welcomed his support for charter schools. In a city that gave 83 percent of its ballots to Biden, voters who didn’t much like either candidate decided to bet on the unmistakably Democratic candidate.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Crime Mattered in Chicago's Mayoral Race—Just Not How Pundits Implied It Would Samantha Michaels, Mother Jones

FLAG THIS

How Chicago Ranks the Issues: Crime a Top Concern for Men and Women

Polling conducted ahead of Chicago’s mayoral election showed 44% of voters considered crime the “most important” issue. Criminal justice reform checked in second at 13%, and the economy was third at 12%.

The perception on crime held true for both men (47%) and women (42%).

There was racial disparity in the results. While 61% of white voters listed crime as the “most important” issue, just 30% of black voters and 37% of Hispanic voters agreed (Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ, Telemundo Chicago and NBC5).

FLAG FINDS

Veggie Dogs, Wander Over Wonder, (Re)Birth Miracle

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WATERCOOLER

American Kitsch, Generation Alpha, Menships

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Today I Learned during pregnancy, if the mother suffers organ damage, the baby in the womb sends stem cells to repair the damaged organ.